Rumor: Nokia to introduce Windows 8 tablet at Mobile World Congress

Nokia is 'all in' with Windows Phone, but what about Windows 8? It was way back last Spring that we heard Nokia head of Design, Marko Ahtisaari, first let news slip of a possible tablet from Finland. Looks like those plans haven't completely been shelved as DigiTimes reports Nokia could unveil a 10-inch device in a few short months.

Word on the street is that Nokia is working closely with Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Compel Electronics to pick up developmenet of a Windows RT device. Rumor has it that plans were put on hold after Microsoft made a surprise announcement and introduced the Surface earlier this summer. The orignal plan involved introducing the tablet for a Q1 2013 appearance. Remember those tablet design patents we showed you back in mid-October?

The device is expected to be unveiled at Mobile World Congress late Februrary. Windows Phone Central will be there live to cover the event for you. And before you get your panties in a bunch, the image above is just a fan made render that has floated around the web. We don't really know what an Espoo tablet would look like.

Are you guys and gals interested in a Windows RT tablet from Nokia to pair with your Lumia 820 and 920? Or would you rather have it with an Intel inside?

GPS would be a killer feature. Overall though I agree with the guy above you. I have a Surface and I have to admit I'm not impressed with the performance of Windows on ARM at the moment. Right now Clovertrail Atom based tablets run faster, along with being able to run full Windows. For the most part, the Atom and ARM tablets seem to be around the same price. In a year or so you will have fanless Core i series. I have to wonder if MS made this transition to ARM too late.

Well both would be and rt for cheap price and battery life, and a intel or amd for power, actually hoping that they would inovate and make a dual mode tablet with rt and win 8 pro/ intel in same package. A dual boot system. Like my old mac book it had two video cards one for battery and on for power.

with 11,6 inch display with the highest resolution possible, a keyboard dock that is adjustable and has colour options with battery inside, curved screen like the lumia 920. If they at least give me that much then i'll buy it even if it costs 1500 euros. Well i guess we are just dreaming.

My preference would be a Nokia 7 or 10 inch tablet running Windows 8 (not RT), a 1080p screen, the new Atom processor they're using in the Acer W510, and a big enough battery to get 8 hours or more of battery life (a spare battery in the keyboard, as Asus has, would be especially cool). I really like the i3 and i5 processors, but not if we can only get 3-4 hours out of them...might as well just buy a laptop in that case.

I will not buy a RT Tablet, regardless who makes it... I need Intel inside! This whole ARM stuff is only good for mobile phones, cause by mid 2013 you will get a Windows 8 Pro. Tablet with 256Gb of RAM for the price of a iPad-4 64Gb with WiFi.

You sacrifice battery life with all of that power. I easily get 10hrs out of my Surface because of that ARM processor and it does what most people need a mobile device to do. People who complain about RT I think don't get that it is quite literally the bridge between a tablet and desktop OS. Dig deeply enough and you'll plenty of familiar Windows to keep you happy.

I think they should make a 7-8" Windows RT tablet on ARM with a 1366x768 screen, plus a 10-11" Clover Trail based tablet with a 1920x1080 screen. I don't see a need for a Core i based tablet with the Surface Pro coming out, they need to offer something different.
Hopefully they can come up with something similar to the Touch Cover, or license it to use themselves.

At first I was holding off for a pro tablet thinking that RT was a waste, but then I started thinking about the things I want to do with a tablet. I came to the conclusion that besides specific games there is nothing I need win 8 pro for, everything else is capable of being done in the RT environment. So rather than trying to fit a square peg in a round hole I changed my view on RT. A Lumia 10" RT has me actively excited!!

That you can do on tv also using a wireless kb n mouse. VS on tablet is just overkill. 10" screens are just good for casual stuff. My 15" laptop feels small coz when I work I am on dual 24" monitors that make it easy to debug side by side. Hey but then again just like Dirty Harry said (in a lighter vein), opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one.

No one seems to want GPS in their tablet and I don't know why becuase think about all the GPS-enabled apps on your phone--just about every of them would also work well on a tablet and many of them would be even better on a tablet. No GPS was what dampened my plans for a Surface--that and the poor battery life in the pro.
I will want a pro when the battery life improve from Intel's upcoming Haswell chips but I think I'll just stick with a RT for the first rouind. If the Nokia tablet is 10" and has a GPS then that will be my tablet.

I agree, GPS chips should be in every device. They are pretty cheap to install, and those that don't want them can simply turn it off in settings. I for one use the GPS in my phone and ipad(sorry guys) many times

I agree that's why I got my ativ smart PC instead of a surface. $50 more but full x86 compatibility, wacom digitizer and better performance. The only advantage ARM has at the moment is a slightly lower price

1. I'd MUCH PREFER a Lumia Pro version of a tablet running Intel processor. I like Surface RT, but right now my life just needs too much backwards compatibility, so I use the Surface RT the way most use an iPad. I just happen to get a lot more out of it because of keyboard and Office... Surface Pro will be the ideal tablet for me for a while.

2. Assuming a Lumia Pro option... I'd be all-in as long as it looks like a Lumia and has color options. That's a GREAT distinguishing factor from all the boring black slates. It's the same reason I picked up the red touch cover. However, it also has to be thin and light. The weight and size of the 920 doesn't bother me, but having the weight and size in a tablet would NOT be useful.

3. I would absolutely expect that 40MP Pureview sensor in it!! I'd snap pictures all damn day if it did... no matter how ridiculous using a tablet as a camera is, lol.

Firstly, I keep flip-flopping in my head on this between RT and pro and my current stance is-

How many x86 apps are being written vs RT apps? Then how many of those are good for a tablet? My point is that if you need legacy support, pro is it, but you will get less dependent on that every month you own it. The downsides of pro are too many RIGHT NOW, so 6 months from now it may be less of a compromise. Right now, only RT makes sense. Surface pro will flop outside of maybe enterprise and power users.

On to Nokia - I'd personally prefer a 7-9" device, definitely smaller than surface. To maintain size and cost it has to be RT. It has to have LTE, GPS etc.
Here is the second problem:- in the 7-8" space, price tops out at $329 for 16GB (this is the psychological price even if people opt for 32GB) and the competitors are $199 (Nexus 7 and to a lesser degree Kindle Fire HD). The 10" space seems to have more room for solid competition.

Nokia - You will REALLY need help from AT&T here, the tablet market is BRUTAL, no subsidies, established market leaders. Good luck ... don't make too many!

I have already got (and love) a Surface so unlikely to be interested in another tablet but seems to me that, if there is a niche, it is for a smaller and more portable, say 7 inch'ish, tablet with 3G or 4G to maximise its usefulness when you are out and about.

Yes I'll buy it. And for RT I'd prefer Qualcomm over Intel (& tegra) for battery & connectivity options. 1080p please. With that said, I avoided surface because of WiFi only and I will avoid surface pro due to its low battery.

Nokia should do a 7 inch first,. the surface is the damn good tablet in the 10 inch segment and there is going to have to be some really amazing features to out do the surface, but the 7 inch segment doesn't exist for windows 8 tablets, whether its running a RT or a modified WP8, a 7 incher would be a good start and nokia could be the defining tablet in that segment for windows, much as the surface is for 10 inch segment.

I don't think they'd make it a heavy tablet. Also I agree about the 7inch range. I have a Playbook and love the form factor but I wish it had greater support. I'd be happy if someone copied every design cue from the PB and added WinRT to it.

I'm still getting my Surface Pro in January. But when this is released, if the price is right, I may get one to have as an RT device thats a little "lighter" than the full blown Surface Pro.
Hopefully it looks as gorgeous as the Lumia Phones!

People are arguing to much. ARM, Intel etc... Let me explain. I work as a technical support advisor for Apple. I troubleshoot iPads, iPod and iPhones (iOS) I figured that people check their emails, surf on the web, listen to music, watch videos and play games. That's pretty much about it. If Nokia gonna make a tablet under 10" (with or without a keyboard) there is no need to put a Intel ship on it since your average customer won't be using all that power. They want enough juice to last 8-10 hours. With a RT version that a plus since you have Office build it. They can still make a Pro version for advance user like us but they will make the money with the average Joe who just want the simple stuff.

Nokia is in the phone business. I don't think that they intend to march into the PC tablet business. However, with their strength and knowhow in the WHERE and imaging area, they could indeed design and build a serious multifunction tablet people want. The screen size should be around 5" - 7" and it weighs less than1 lb. It comes with 808 PureView camera/video specs and also equiped with the PureMotion HD+ display. So it would function as a serious GPS Navigator, Book Reader, gaming machine, camera/video recorder, internet and productivity machine. It provides the necessary physical dimension which smartphone can't, while it is still pocketable. The weakiness of WP - lack of apps - will be easily overlooked by the included astonishing 41 mp PureView technology. This is the huge differentiator Nokia can provide. Of course, they need to work with AT&T or Verizon to provide the 4G/LTE support. The last thing Nokia wants to do is come up with another 'me too' 10" RT tablet (like Surface). Adding some colorful cases are simply not good enough.